Will Nebula Return In Guardians Of The Galaxy 2?

Once considered a risk and an underdog, James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy blew the doors off theaters worldwide this past weekend, and audiences are not only revisiting the film multiple times, but already anxiously awaiting the announced sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy 2. While the sci-fi blockbuster is certainly a complete story all by itself, it does also leave some loose ends dangling... and we want answers, dammit! We won't get any real conclusions to our queries until the follow-up actually comes out in 2017, but for now Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is at least shedding some light on a few details we can expect.

Spoiler Warning: The rest of this article contains major spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy. If you haven't seen the film yet and wish to go in without knowing anything about the plot, I would recommend clicking away to another one of our wonderful articles on the site.

At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, Gamora's ties with her "sister" Nebula are literally severed, as the blue, robotic daughter of Thanos cut off her own hand just to get away from her green assassin sibling. Futuristic technology certainly means that Nebula's hand will be repaired and we saw her fly away in a spaceship, but does that ensure that she will be back for Guardians of the Galaxy 2? Feige wouldn't confirm anything specific, but while talking to IGN he did suggest that any character who didn't clearly die on screen would be a possibility for a return in the sequel. Said the studio president,

I would say any character that doesn't overtly perish is certainly fair game to come back. If people know the comic lore, Nebula has a lot of varying different roles to play over the course of a lot of different titles in the comics. We have somebody like Karen, and you have a look that is so weird and so great. I think that's something we'd all like to see again.

What Feige is quite possibly alluding to in his statement about Nebula's comic book role is her large part in the "Infinity Gauntlet" arc - which has long been rumored to be the source material that will be used for the upcoming Avengers 3. This could also very likely be the time that we finally get to see the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers team up in one huge blockbuster - which we all know will happen at one point or another (it's the Marvel way!).

Feige also addressed what is purposefully set up as a bit of a mystery at the end of James Gunn's film: the identity of Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord's father. Given the clues presented in the movie, we know he's a powerful alien who arranged to have his son picked up off of Earth after his mother died. We don't know if the sequel will follow the route of the comics or go in its own direction, but what can be confirmed is that it will be an important plot point. "I think there's a reason we seeded it at the very end of the film like that," the executive/producer said. "I think that would certainly be part of a next Guardians adventure. Certainly, that would be part of it."

More news will surely come out in the weeks, months and years ahead, so stay tuned, and get ready for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 on July 28, 2017.